In a country where a man takes pride in being identified as 'macho' - which interpreted as a reflection of their manhood - life for those who have fought to understand, struggle and combat with their sexuality is definitely not easy. As a result, they continue to live dual lives - one that agrees with the terms and conditions of the society, while suppressing other, which remains shrouded in guilt, regret and shame, for no fault of its own. Based out of Kolkata, fashion photographer Amit Bittoo Dey depicts this duality in the lives the LGBT community in the city. Dey, a bisexual himself, drew from his own and his friends' experiences from the community and the struggle with sexual identity while conceptualising the photo series. Dey decided that he wanted to tell the world that love knows no gender or age bar, it surpasses all of them. That is how the photo series 'Coy Mistress' came into being. "The research for the photo series went on for six months," Dey told the IndianExpress.com when talking about the 'Coy Mistress'. The stunning photo series tells the story of a man torn between his duties to the woman he accepted as a wife for society's sake and his sexuality which draws him towards another man. Dey shared the photo series on his Facebook page, which has already been shared hundreds of times and has received an overwhelmingly positive response. The photographer has, no doubt, beautifully, yet painfully captured the truth that the repressed souls suffer under the expectations of the Indian society.
